Tobias Pfaff 🦛
@tobiaspfaff.bsky.social
Research scientist at NVIDIA. Learned physics models, generative video & more.
Reposted by Tobias Pfaff 🦛
Good morning with good news: An historic energy milestone is reached. Renewables globally produced more electricity than coal for the first time on record in the first half of 2025!
How?
Solar skyrocketed 31%
Wind rose 7.7%
Coal FELL in China & India!
ember-energy.org/latest-insig... #energysky
How?
Solar skyrocketed 31%
Wind rose 7.7%
Coal FELL in China & India!
ember-energy.org/latest-insig... #energysky
October 7, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Good morning with good news: An historic energy milestone is reached. Renewables globally produced more electricity than coal for the first time on record in the first half of 2025!
How?
Solar skyrocketed 31%
Wind rose 7.7%
Coal FELL in China & India!
ember-energy.org/latest-insig... #energysky
How?
Solar skyrocketed 31%
Wind rose 7.7%
Coal FELL in China & India!
ember-energy.org/latest-insig... #energysky
🌟2026 internships at the NVIDIA spatial intelligence lab: Looking for interns with background in video & world models. DM me if interested!
October 3, 2025 at 11:08 AM
🌟2026 internships at the NVIDIA spatial intelligence lab: Looking for interns with background in video & world models. DM me if interested!
Reposted by Tobias Pfaff 🦛
This is not OK.
I don't submit often to NeurIPS, but I reviewed papers for this conference almost every year. As a reviewer, why would I spend time trying to give a fair opinion on papers if it's what happens in the end???
I don't submit often to NeurIPS, but I reviewed papers for this conference almost every year. As a reviewer, why would I spend time trying to give a fair opinion on papers if it's what happens in the end???
September 20, 2025 at 6:10 AM
This is not OK.
I don't submit often to NeurIPS, but I reviewed papers for this conference almost every year. As a reviewer, why would I spend time trying to give a fair opinion on papers if it's what happens in the end???
I don't submit often to NeurIPS, but I reviewed papers for this conference almost every year. As a reviewer, why would I spend time trying to give a fair opinion on papers if it's what happens in the end???
Reposted by Tobias Pfaff 🦛
As an SAC for @neuripsconf.bsky.social, I don't agree with PCs approach to reject papers based on ranking.
I ranked my accepted papers as requested and explicitly stated that I support the acceptance of all papers.
I was not given an explanation of why papers at the end of the rank were rejected.
I ranked my accepted papers as requested and explicitly stated that I support the acceptance of all papers.
I was not given an explanation of why papers at the end of the rank were rejected.
September 19, 2025 at 7:49 PM
As an SAC for @neuripsconf.bsky.social, I don't agree with PCs approach to reject papers based on ranking.
I ranked my accepted papers as requested and explicitly stated that I support the acceptance of all papers.
I was not given an explanation of why papers at the end of the rank were rejected.
I ranked my accepted papers as requested and explicitly stated that I support the acceptance of all papers.
I was not given an explanation of why papers at the end of the rank were rejected.
Reposted by Tobias Pfaff 🦛
Which work? Calling for gay people to be stoned to death? Blaming airplane crashes on black pilots? Anti-vax bullshit? Election denialism? Pushing Great Replacement Theory?
Kirk’s murder is awful and ominous for this country. But no, we don’t need to honor him or “continue his work.”
Kirk’s murder is awful and ominous for this country. But no, we don’t need to honor him or “continue his work.”
September 11, 2025 at 1:32 AM
Which work? Calling for gay people to be stoned to death? Blaming airplane crashes on black pilots? Anti-vax bullshit? Election denialism? Pushing Great Replacement Theory?
Kirk’s murder is awful and ominous for this country. But no, we don’t need to honor him or “continue his work.”
Kirk’s murder is awful and ominous for this country. But no, we don’t need to honor him or “continue his work.”
Reposted by Tobias Pfaff 🦛
10/ This is the structural change we’ve all been waiting for. Emissions are plateauing. Coal is peaking. The export of clean technology by China is doing more to decarbonise emerging economies than any Western climate summit or speech.
September 11, 2025 at 3:32 AM
10/ This is the structural change we’ve all been waiting for. Emissions are plateauing. Coal is peaking. The export of clean technology by China is doing more to decarbonise emerging economies than any Western climate summit or speech.
Reposted by Tobias Pfaff 🦛
Everybody misses the 1-page rebuttal.
These lengthy forum style comments are a nightmare: a nightmare for the authors who spend way too much time writing them, a nightmare for the reviewers who spend too much time understanding them, a nightmare for the ACs who will have to summarize all. Stop it!
These lengthy forum style comments are a nightmare: a nightmare for the authors who spend way too much time writing them, a nightmare for the reviewers who spend too much time understanding them, a nightmare for the ACs who will have to summarize all. Stop it!
As a #NeurIPS AC I did a little stat. Paper reviews+responses in my batch contain 515k characters and 75k words. This is without including papers themselves or authors/reviewers discussions. So please be nice to your AC, we are doing our best. Also I miss the one page PDF response of old ICML.
August 1, 2025 at 9:05 AM
Everybody misses the 1-page rebuttal.
These lengthy forum style comments are a nightmare: a nightmare for the authors who spend way too much time writing them, a nightmare for the reviewers who spend too much time understanding them, a nightmare for the ACs who will have to summarize all. Stop it!
These lengthy forum style comments are a nightmare: a nightmare for the authors who spend way too much time writing them, a nightmare for the reviewers who spend too much time understanding them, a nightmare for the ACs who will have to summarize all. Stop it!
Reposted by Tobias Pfaff 🦛
New blog post: AI Allergy.
On my increasing disgust with the AI discourse, even though I still like the technical and philosophical. And how I wish I could be excited about AI again.
togelius.blogspot.com/2025/08/ai-a...
On my increasing disgust with the AI discourse, even though I still like the technical and philosophical. And how I wish I could be excited about AI again.
togelius.blogspot.com/2025/08/ai-a...
AI Allergy
I remember being excited about AI. I remember 20 years ago, being excited about neuroevolutionary methods for learning adaptive behaviors in...
togelius.blogspot.com
August 13, 2025 at 5:00 AM
New blog post: AI Allergy.
On my increasing disgust with the AI discourse, even though I still like the technical and philosophical. And how I wish I could be excited about AI again.
togelius.blogspot.com/2025/08/ai-a...
On my increasing disgust with the AI discourse, even though I still like the technical and philosophical. And how I wish I could be excited about AI again.
togelius.blogspot.com/2025/08/ai-a...
Reposted by Tobias Pfaff 🦛
I have found ACing for NeurIPS this year a miserable experience and I've been struggling to articulate why without basically whining about it being too much work (although.....true. My god the amount of words I'm reading...). But I think I've figured out part of my dislike for this process.
August 13, 2025 at 2:53 AM
I have found ACing for NeurIPS this year a miserable experience and I've been struggling to articulate why without basically whining about it being too much work (although.....true. My god the amount of words I'm reading...). But I think I've figured out part of my dislike for this process.
Reposted by Tobias Pfaff 🦛
EurIPS is coming! 📣 Mark your calendar for Dec. 2-7, 2025 in Copenhagen 📅
EurIPS is a community-organized conference where you can present accepted NeurIPS 2025 papers, endorsed by @neuripsconf.bsky.social and @nordicair.bsky.social and is co-developed by @ellis.eu
eurips.cc
EurIPS is a community-organized conference where you can present accepted NeurIPS 2025 papers, endorsed by @neuripsconf.bsky.social and @nordicair.bsky.social and is co-developed by @ellis.eu
eurips.cc
July 16, 2025 at 10:01 PM
EurIPS is coming! 📣 Mark your calendar for Dec. 2-7, 2025 in Copenhagen 📅
EurIPS is a community-organized conference where you can present accepted NeurIPS 2025 papers, endorsed by @neuripsconf.bsky.social and @nordicair.bsky.social and is co-developed by @ellis.eu
eurips.cc
EurIPS is a community-organized conference where you can present accepted NeurIPS 2025 papers, endorsed by @neuripsconf.bsky.social and @nordicair.bsky.social and is co-developed by @ellis.eu
eurips.cc
Reposted by Tobias Pfaff 🦛
🌍 Would be better if authors were allowed to present at officially endorsed hubs or online instead — ensuring fair and equitable participation, and ultimately creating a better NeurIPS for everyone.
Interesting in knowing more: read our full opinion piece ⬇️. docs.google.com/document/d/1...
4/4
Interesting in knowing more: read our full opinion piece ⬇️. docs.google.com/document/d/1...
4/4
Towards decentralized ML conferences
Towards decentralized ML conferences Pierre Marion July 2025 Abstract: Large ML conferences play a central role in our community, by providing a rigorous review process and a venue for meaningful di...
docs.google.com
July 17, 2025 at 8:49 AM
🌍 Would be better if authors were allowed to present at officially endorsed hubs or online instead — ensuring fair and equitable participation, and ultimately creating a better NeurIPS for everyone.
Interesting in knowing more: read our full opinion piece ⬇️. docs.google.com/document/d/1...
4/4
Interesting in knowing more: read our full opinion piece ⬇️. docs.google.com/document/d/1...
4/4
Reposted by Tobias Pfaff 🦛
Today marks a big milestone for us at Emmi AI. We’ve raised a €15M seed round, backed by 3VC, Speedinvest, Serena, and PUSH. Let’s build the future of Physics AI together!
April 25, 2025 at 6:51 AM
Today marks a big milestone for us at Emmi AI. We’ve raised a €15M seed round, backed by 3VC, Speedinvest, Serena, and PUSH. Let’s build the future of Physics AI together!
Reposted by Tobias Pfaff 🦛
So far, 2,135 people have responded to the poll Søren and I posted a few days ago. Of those, 94.4% replied “Yes” to being interested in officially presenting accepted @neuripsconf.bsky.social papers in Europe. (1/7)
April 3, 2025 at 11:03 AM
So far, 2,135 people have responded to the poll Søren and I posted a few days ago. Of those, 94.4% replied “Yes” to being interested in officially presenting accepted @neuripsconf.bsky.social papers in Europe. (1/7)
Reposted by Tobias Pfaff 🦛
"I’m the Canadian who was detained by Ice for two weeks. It felt like I had been kidnapped" www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
I’m the Canadian who was detained by Ice for two weeks. It felt like I had been kidnapped
I was stuck in a freezing cell without explanation despite eventually having lawyers and media attention. Yet, compared with others, I was lucky
www.theguardian.com
March 19, 2025 at 4:05 PM
"I’m the Canadian who was detained by Ice for two weeks. It felt like I had been kidnapped" www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Reposted by Tobias Pfaff 🦛
French researcher, going to a conference in Houston, was forbidden entry to US; his work and personal electronics were both confiscated.
Why? Because a “random search” of his cell phone revealed a negative personal opinion on Trump and the Trump administration. www.lemonde.fr/internationa...
Why? Because a “random search” of his cell phone revealed a negative personal opinion on Trump and the Trump administration. www.lemonde.fr/internationa...
Etats-Unis : un chercheur français refoulé pour avoir exprimé « une opinion personnelle sur la politique menée par l’administration Trump »
Le ministre de la recherche a dit sa « préoccupation », mercredi, après cette décision des autorités américaines. Le chercheur du CNRS aurait subi un contrôle aléatoire à son arrivée, avant que son or...
www.lemonde.fr
March 19, 2025 at 5:37 PM
French researcher, going to a conference in Houston, was forbidden entry to US; his work and personal electronics were both confiscated.
Why? Because a “random search” of his cell phone revealed a negative personal opinion on Trump and the Trump administration. www.lemonde.fr/internationa...
Why? Because a “random search” of his cell phone revealed a negative personal opinion on Trump and the Trump administration. www.lemonde.fr/internationa...
Reposted by Tobias Pfaff 🦛
Hippos are legit amazing tho.
March 13, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Hippos are legit amazing tho.
Reposted by Tobias Pfaff 🦛
I have been doing entirely too much earnest posting about deep things recently, I need to do a proper thread about hippo testicles or something just to keep myself sane.
Oh by the way hippos have migratory testicles.
Oh by the way hippos have migratory testicles.
a statue of a hippopotamus with its mouth open and teeth showing .
Alt: A hippo being tossed a watermelon, which it crushes in its massive jaws.
media.tenor.com
March 12, 2025 at 5:33 AM
I have been doing entirely too much earnest posting about deep things recently, I need to do a proper thread about hippo testicles or something just to keep myself sane.
Oh by the way hippos have migratory testicles.
Oh by the way hippos have migratory testicles.
Reposted by Tobias Pfaff 🦛
I mentioned earlier that they chew on Nile Crocodiles - I wasn't kidding, baby Hippos use them as teething rings since the texture of their scales is satisfying to gum.
Just this 12' long razor-toothed archosaur, sitting there going "stay calm, Clarence, you survived the asteroid, you can do this."
Just this 12' long razor-toothed archosaur, sitting there going "stay calm, Clarence, you survived the asteroid, you can do this."
a hippopotamus is standing in a puddle of water next to two crocodiles
Alt: A crocodile doing his best to stay calm while a baby hippo noms on him.
media.tenor.com
March 12, 2025 at 6:43 AM
I mentioned earlier that they chew on Nile Crocodiles - I wasn't kidding, baby Hippos use them as teething rings since the texture of their scales is satisfying to gum.
Just this 12' long razor-toothed archosaur, sitting there going "stay calm, Clarence, you survived the asteroid, you can do this."
Just this 12' long razor-toothed archosaur, sitting there going "stay calm, Clarence, you survived the asteroid, you can do this."
Reposted by Tobias Pfaff 🦛
I wrote about why funding for the NSF and NIH is important to me and to my hometown (Charlottesville, VA) at @cvilletomorrow.bsky.social. Thank you to @sciencehomecoming.bsky.social for inspiring me to do this!
www.cvilletomorrow.org/if-federal-f...
www.cvilletomorrow.org/if-federal-f...
If federal funding for science is cut, we won't just be losing the research
Jessica B. Hamrick is a Virginia success story for her career in science. That career, she writes, wouldn't have been possible without federal funding for science.
www.cvilletomorrow.org
March 6, 2025 at 5:53 PM
I wrote about why funding for the NSF and NIH is important to me and to my hometown (Charlottesville, VA) at @cvilletomorrow.bsky.social. Thank you to @sciencehomecoming.bsky.social for inspiring me to do this!
www.cvilletomorrow.org/if-federal-f...
www.cvilletomorrow.org/if-federal-f...
Reposted by Tobias Pfaff 🦛
🤹 Excited to share Erwin: A Tree-based Hierarchical Transformer for Large-scale Physical Systems
joint work with @wellingmax.bsky.social and @jwvdm.bsky.social
preprint: arxiv.org/abs/2502.17019
code: github.com/maxxxzdn/erwin
joint work with @wellingmax.bsky.social and @jwvdm.bsky.social
preprint: arxiv.org/abs/2502.17019
code: github.com/maxxxzdn/erwin
March 5, 2025 at 6:04 PM
🤹 Excited to share Erwin: A Tree-based Hierarchical Transformer for Large-scale Physical Systems
joint work with @wellingmax.bsky.social and @jwvdm.bsky.social
preprint: arxiv.org/abs/2502.17019
code: github.com/maxxxzdn/erwin
joint work with @wellingmax.bsky.social and @jwvdm.bsky.social
preprint: arxiv.org/abs/2502.17019
code: github.com/maxxxzdn/erwin
Reposted by Tobias Pfaff 🦛
"We at @nature.com denounce this assault on science. And we encourage the global research community, wherever they can, to voice their opposition."
+1 to this. Overall a very good read to help the science community focus our energy 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
+1 to this. Overall a very good read to help the science community focus our energy 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Trump 2.0: an assault on science anywhere is an assault on science everywhere
US President Donald Trump is taking a wrecking ball to science and to international institutions. The global research community must take a stand against these attacks.
www.nature.com
February 26, 2025 at 7:23 PM
"We at @nature.com denounce this assault on science. And we encourage the global research community, wherever they can, to voice their opposition."
+1 to this. Overall a very good read to help the science community focus our energy 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
+1 to this. Overall a very good read to help the science community focus our energy 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Tobias Pfaff 🦛
what's wrong babe? you've barely touched your rarohire rochi terochichimomo
February 26, 2025 at 12:29 AM
what's wrong babe? you've barely touched your rarohire rochi terochichimomo
Reposted by Tobias Pfaff 🦛
Received this e-mail from the NSF this morning.
The webpage it directs you to for submitting questions doesn’t give you any way to receive a response; when you submit a question it says “Your response has been submitted” and claims that they’ll put together a FAQ page.
The webpage it directs you to for submitting questions doesn’t give you any way to receive a response; when you submit a question it says “Your response has been submitted” and claims that they’ll put together a FAQ page.
January 29, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Received this e-mail from the NSF this morning.
The webpage it directs you to for submitting questions doesn’t give you any way to receive a response; when you submit a question it says “Your response has been submitted” and claims that they’ll put together a FAQ page.
The webpage it directs you to for submitting questions doesn’t give you any way to receive a response; when you submit a question it says “Your response has been submitted” and claims that they’ll put together a FAQ page.
Reposted by Tobias Pfaff 🦛
Congrats to Mario 👏 for the accept of his ICLR paper on "Diffusion Graph Nets", it targets predicting complex distributions of flow states on unstructured meshes openreview.net/forum?id=uKZ... It works even if the training data contains only a fraction of the flow statistics per case.
January 27, 2025 at 4:56 AM
Congrats to Mario 👏 for the accept of his ICLR paper on "Diffusion Graph Nets", it targets predicting complex distributions of flow states on unstructured meshes openreview.net/forum?id=uKZ... It works even if the training data contains only a fraction of the flow statistics per case.
Reposted by Tobias Pfaff 🦛
The next generation of probabilistic machine learning for weather called GenCast is published in @natureportfolio.bsky.social today 🥳. Amazing to see the collective progress in ML for weather as a field over the last 5 years. 🏖️ www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Probabilistic weather forecasting with machine learning - Nature
GenCast, a probabilistic weather model using artificial intelligence for weather forecasting, has greater skill and speed than the top operational medium-range weather forecast in the world and provid...
www.nature.com
December 4, 2024 at 7:30 PM
The next generation of probabilistic machine learning for weather called GenCast is published in @natureportfolio.bsky.social today 🥳. Amazing to see the collective progress in ML for weather as a field over the last 5 years. 🏖️ www.nature.com/articles/s41...